Lost in Translation
by Zurizip
Summary: Summary inside; you know you’re curious!
1. Out of the frying pan

_All right folks. This is my great experiment in mary sueism. Is it humanly possible for an author to drop a character from this world into the cannon world and a. make it seem like it could be cannon, b. keep everyone in character and c. keep the OC original (and realistic) enough to appease the rabid reviewers?_

_For my sake, let us hope so. There will be a note on how I am using language at the end._

_Enjoy and review! I need to know how to continue/edit this!_

_The Authoress_

It was supposed to be just another normal day – well…night anyhow. She was walking back from the gym to her dorms when a rustle to her left made her glance over. Warily, she continued on the path, gripping her key tightly; it was probably the best weapon on her. She didn't look to see if someone was there; it was a big city, chances were that it was nothing, and if it was someone, it was just a bum.

Slowly, she relaxed, as nothing big, scary and male jumped from the bushes. Just as she had loosened her grip on the keys, a yell echoed across the small park, issuing from the point that she had just passed. It sounded rather foreign, and in a lot of trouble. She growled under her breath. She couldn't do much, having no cell phone and no supplies, but now she had to check it out. Doubling back, she peered behind a tree's shadow. A wind suddenly sprung up, whistling over her back and towards the shadow. It creeped her out, but whoever had yelled was still there; there was noise still coming from _somewhere_.

'Somewhere' became evident as the wind grew stronger, whipping her hair around and stealing her handkerchief.

"Hey!" She cried, and made a grab for it. The wind suddenly turned stronger, and she tripped.

It was the last thing she remembered.

"So what do ya think she is?"

"Well, she's not a demon, not a whiff of demon on her."

"She doesn't have any weapons."

"She's pretty; in a strange sort of way." _thunk_ "Aie. I was merely making an observation."

"Kagome! She has clothes like yours!"

With that fact pointed out, the four resumed their inspection of the newest enigma. Miroku bent closer, inspecting the afore mentioned enigma's shirt (and therefore, chest) closer. "I cannot seem to make out the markings on her clothing." He said, as Sango glowered at him.

"Certainly not for trying." She said darkly.

Miroku glanced up at Sango and Kagome, both eyeing him with a certain animosity in their eyes. He held up his hands. "I can't help where it's placed!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Sure, lecher, but you aren't complaining." He squatted down and poked the girl in the shoulder. "Hey! Wake up!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, as Shippo bounded behind some bushes in apprehension, "don't wake her up yet!"

Too late, as it turned out; the girl's eyes fluttered open to a pair of golden eyes and white hair. She promptly gasped, choked, coughed and sat up quickly, then subsided again, moaning and saying something incomprehensible.

"What did she say?" Asked Sango, looking at Kagome.

"I don't know." The girl replied, looking worried, and knelt down. "Hello!" She said, smiling.

The girl looked from Kagome to Miroku to Sango to Inuyasha and back to Kagome. Then she said something, again, completely alien to their ears, though the pitch of her voice had risen a few notes.

"She's talking gibberish." Said Sango, "Perhaps the shock?"

Kagome paled as she listened to the girl speak, fast and strange. "That's not gibberish." She said quietly, "it's English."

"English?" the rest said all at once, each looking as confused as the next.

"It's another language, I'm not sure if it was around now…" Kagome explained hesitantly.

The girl had noted the lack of attention being paid to her, and had curled up defensively, looking at them in a mixed between fright and confusion. Again she spoke, again not a word made sense. When they made no reply, she curled up even tighter and bit her lip. The group saw her begin to shake.

Kagome, attempting to be the liaison between the group and the girl, made a gesture of peace and said very, very slowly: "Iiiiiiiit iiis oooooooook. Weeeee aaaaaaare frieeeeeeends." She smiled brightly.

Though she seemed to finally understand that they net her no harm, the girl was uncharmed, muttering something darkly. Kagome couldn't tell whether it was anger or fright. She sighed. "Well. This is going to take awhile."

"Why don't you just talk to her in her language?" Miroku said sensibly, "Isn't that one of your subjects in school?"

Kagome sighed. "I took Korean," she said in slight annoyance, "The English classes were full, and I would have had to wait another year to start taking my language." She shook her head. "I know maybe a sentence or two in English, and it's things like 'The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain' and 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn'." She sighed. "That's not exactly helpful in situations like this."

Miroku sighed. "Well, it was worth the thought."

Absently Kagome nodded as she sat down the rest of the way and looked at Inuyasha. "Could you get my backpack?"

Inuyasha kicked the ground and complied, sensing that this was not the time to argue. Digging around, Kagome pulled out a pen and paper, thinking that perhaps writing would help. She quickly scrawled out a message and handed it to the girl. She glanced at it, sighed and held out her hand for the pen. Kagome gave it up willingly, thinking that perhaps they had made a connection. She was disappointed when she got the paper back, and it was nothing but scribbles that looked much like the ones on her shirt. She knew that they were part of the English alphabet, but that was completely meaningless to her. She looked up, and the girl shrugged, obviously having much the same thoughts.

Kagome shook her head, completely lost for ideas. The girl presented a solution, sticking her hand out and saying one word. Kagome looked up, perplexed, and saw her pointing to herself. "Kay."

It took a moment, but Kagome finally got it. She had heard that the English didn't bow, instead they shook hands. "Oh!" She exclaimed, and took the hand, shaking limply. She pointed at the girl and said firmly, "Kay."

Kay grinned and clapped her hands, delighted not to be completely misunderstood. _Props to Tarzan, _she thought, _never thought that the me; Tarzan you; Jane thing would ever come in handy._

"Hey everybody!" Kagome called over her shoulder, "Her name is Kay!"

"That's a strange name." Sango said over a sip of tea.

Kagome was about to reply when Kay tapped her on the shoulder, and pointed at her none too subtly. Kagome nodded, pointing at herself. "Kagome." She said.

"Ka-go-me." The girl said, chewing the pronunciation.

"Kagome." Kagome said again, helping her with it.

"Kagome!" Kay said, and nodded, knowing that she had gotten it right.

"Not bad." Said Inuyasha, "At least we know her name."

"Yes, but how are we going to know more?"

Kagome glance at Kay, who was peering at Inuyasha with an odd look. She noticed the glance, and pointed, asking a question.

Kagome pointed, "Inuyasha."

Kay nodded, this time not practicing, but getting up and going over to the half demon. Walking up to him, he was disconcerted to find that she was actually taller than him, heck, she might have been able to rival Sesshomaru in height. He didn't think that girls got to _be_ so tall. And that meant that the first thing she saw was…

"Aie! Kagome, call her off! Get her off of me!"

"Inuyahsa! Just stand still! I don't know how, I don't speak English!"

"Fine!" He said, and shoved her off, stopping the attack on his ears. "Gees, don't they have manners where you come from?" He said as she stepped back, looking thoroughly perplexed.

Kagome ignored the fact that she had done the same upon meeting Inuyahsa, and shook her head. "I think she's American; they're…particular."

Inuyasha rubbed his ears, glowering at Kay, who was still working out the mystery. "Yeah, well, particular must be a nice way of saying IDIOTS!" He yelled the last word in her direction. Kay just shrugged and grinned.

Suddenly, Kagome was very glad that there was a language barrier.

_Not too bad, I hope? _

_There are a few things I need to explain. You will not be seeing any Japanese terms, if I can help it. The speaking in this story is meant to all be in Japanese; therefore, if something was said in Japanese, it would sort of mess up the language barrier thing. That make sense to everyone? The bit of American bashing (very tame bashing, but none the less) is not all my fault, the manga has some as well (which made me laugh) _

_This is already written up to page twenty three. Tell me how long you want the chapters; it's at three pages right now; and I'll try to post at that rate. Review and tell me what you think! Ya'll come back now, y'hear? ;-)_


	2. Ramen

Later in the day, Kay found herself being passed food that looked familiar. She gasped. Food sounded better than anything else at the moment, and it looked like Ramen. She was done in five minutes, as the rest of the group stared.

"I guess she was hungry." Observed Sango as she drew her knees up and rested her chin on them.

Kagome nodded and sat by Kay again. "I think that I'm going to have to try and take you home, and see if we can work something out. Maybe you just need to cross the barrier and get a plane ticket home."

"What's a plane ticket?" Asked Miroku, sounding truly interested.

Kagome sighed. "Never mind that. We have to get to the well."

"You're going home?" Asked Inuyasha, suddenly extremely interested in the affairs.

"Well, it doesn't look like I've got another choice, now does it?" Asked Kagome, "Either that, or she can stay here and be scared and confused some more."

"She doesn't look too scared to me." Said Sango, watching Kay peer around their campground, eyes settling on Kirara. With a measure of delight, the girl set about coaxing the demon to her. "Go on, Kirara," said Sango quietly, "maybe you'll help." Looking a bit miffed, the small demon got up and delicately pranced over, to the delight of the girl, who set about petting her. Deciding that it was not so bad after all, the cat like demon settled in, wrapping both tails around the girl's arm. For a moment, Kay looked disconcerted about the presence of _two_ tails, but soon got over it.

"Well." Said Sango, smirking, "looks as if you've made a new friend, Kirara."

"Petting is a universal language." Observed Kagome, grinning. Kay grinned as well and pointed with her free hand, making a questioning noise.

"Kirara" Sango supplied.

Kay nodded, whispering the name to herself, the looked up and pointed from Sango to Kirara.

"I think that she wants to know if Kirara is yours." Miroku said.

"Oh!" Said Sango, and nodded.

Kay smiled contentedly, and continued to pet the cat demon. Kagome smiled and rummage in her pack. "You're a lot bigger than me…" she started and pulled out an oversized sleeping shirt, "but this should work." Kay looked at the offering and pointed to herself. Kagome nodded. Obviously happy, the girl stood and bowed shortly, then slipped behind a tree to change.

"What do ya know," said Inuyasha, watching from the relative safety of a tree, "She does have some manners."

Kagome glared up at him, fists on her hips. "You're not still mad about the ears, are you?"

Inuyasha did not reply, effectively giving her his answer.

Kagome sighed as she went to change. "You're so stubborn."

Kay did not stay awake much longer after she changed, curling up near the fire and using the other shirt as a pillow. Kagome spread a blanket over her, eliciting something that sounded like 'dank yo'. Whatever that meant, she suspected it was 'thank you'. Shaking her head, she sat down near the others, Shippo coming to curl up in her lap."So. What are we going to do?" Asked Miroku, watching Kay sleep.

"I don't know," Kagome admitted as she scratched Shippo behind the ears. "I think that the well might let her through, and maybe she'll just be able to catch a plane home." She sighed. "She looks like she could afford it, but if she can't, I think I can manage."

"What if the well won't let her through?" The monk asked.

Kagome frowned. "I have no idea. I guess we'll think of that when we get there."

Morning was not a happy venture. A misunderstanding between Kay and Shippo left both of them rattled as they began the journey back to the bone eater's well.

"Shippo," Inuyasha said quietly, "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" Cried the Kitsune, "I was just getting breakfast, and she started talking at me and shooing me away. I tried to introduce myself, but she wouldn't listen!"

Kagome shook her head. "Shippo, there's nothing like you in my world," she glanced over at Kay, who was walking on the opposite side of the road, near Miroku and Sango. "Our world. I think talking to her only made it worse."

"Really? I was trying to tell her my name!"

Kagome sighed. It would be too difficult to explain to Shippo that before she had gone through the well, she would have reacted much the same as Kay was to Shippo; a small fox type thing that spoke? It would be considered absurd in their world.

It did not take too long for them to get back to the well, and thus, for Inuyasha to get cranky.

"You won't be gone too long, right?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "It depends. I might not be gone at all, if Kay can't get through."

Inuyasha muttered darkly. "You'd better not be gone too long."

"Oh, miss me already?"

"I…well…No!" Inuyasha fumbled, and then recovered, answering in his normal, cocky way. "Of course not! You're just the only one who can see the jewels, that's all!"

Kagome glared at him and crossed the road to walk in the middle; between Inuyasha and the group of Kay, Miroku and Sango. Kay had acquired a thoughtful look on her face, and tapped Miroku on the shoulder.

"Yes?" He said, raising his eyebrows.

Kay pointed to Inuyasha, then to Kagome and made a strange gesture. Miroku frowned.

"I'm afraid I don't understand…" he said, and she repeated it.

Sango understood first. "Ah, she's asking if Kagome and Inuyasha are together."

"How did you know?" Asked Miroku, gazing at her in apprehension.

"That last gesture," she said, "It's a heart, Kagome showed it to me once."

"Oh…" said the monk, feeling like a fool. "How are we supposed to explain them?" He asked. "It's not as if it's a yes/no question!"

Sango smirked, and held up her hand, rocking it back and forth. Kay nodded, smiling, then began to chuckle.

"Hey!" Said Inuyasha, hearing her, "What's her problem?"

Miroku and Sango glanced at each other, then at Kay, then to Inuyasha and smiled; the perfect portrayal of innocence.

"What do you mean, Inuyasha?" Said Sango, "I think she's doing quite well if she can laugh after being dropped here where no one knows the language."

"She probably was laughing at your ears," Miroku said, adding his own fuel to the fire, "You know how they amuse Kagome."

Kagome grinned sheepishly and nodded.

"Feh." Said Inuyasha, "Well, tell her to stop it."

"Inuyasha, I can't speak to her anymore than you can." Miroku said coolly.

Having quite forgotten this, and not willing to admit it, Inuyasha opted for cold silence, even ignoring Kagome as she giggled helplessly.

The group walked along the road for a time with little commotion, and Kagome was almost hopeful that they would reach the village with no problems when Miroku stopped dead.

"Inuyasha, do you smell it?"

Giving an experimental sniff, Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah. I smell it." He glanced over at Kagome. "Kagome, Sango, get what's-her-name to the village, whatever it is, it isn't too big, but I don't want her life on my hands."

Kagome nodded and took Kay's hand as Sango loosened Hiraikotsu. "Come on, we've got to go now."

Kay gave her a worried look, and glanced towards the two men of the group as she was led away. Kagome tried to give her a confident smile. "It's ok, they'll be fine, we just have to go now, come on."

Biting her lip, Kay followed without complaint, but Kagome could tell that she was frightened. _Amazing how you pick up on feelings when you can't pick up words. _She thought to herself, _no one told her that we were in danger, but she could tell._

There was a scream, and Kagome heard Tetsusaiga being drawn.

"Time to run!" Sango yelled, and began to push them along. Kagome, used to such a way of running, sped up immediately, but Kay tripped and fell to the ground, making an 'oof' noise.

The demon, a large flying serpent, heard the fall, and whipped its head up to see Kay lying on the ground. It grinned toothily and slipped around Tetsuaiga, heading straight for the girl.

"Kay!" Miroku cried, loosening the beads around his wrist. Inuyasha grabbed his hand before the monk could get any father.

"She doesn't know! If you open that thing, she'd get sucked in along with the demon."

Realizing that Inuyasha was right, Miroku cursed and replaced the beads as Inuyasha ran to the girl; but it was a long way, and the demon could fly.

Kay, meanwhile, had pushed herself up and turned over, only to be faced with a flying snake. She promptly froze; made no noise, but froze.

"Ssssso, a ssssssstrange tttthhhhing you arrrrre." It said, hovering about a foot from her face. She stared at it, looking like she was hyperventilating. "Ssssssuch a looooooovely dinner yyyyyyou'll make!"

"Kagome." Sango whispered. "Can you hit it with an arrow? It's too close for Hiraikotsu."

Kagome gulped. "I don't know. My aim isn't that good, I might hit her."

"It's better than having her soul sucked out. That demon will trap her soul and torture it; it lives off of fear and pain."

Kagome nodded in agreement and knocked an arrow. The demon was preoccupied, staring deep into Kay's eyes as they both swayed in time. Kagome could already see traces of her soul trickling out of her mouth; an emerald green fog that looked none too willing to come out. _Well then, _she thought, _it won't. _And she let loose, closing her eyes and praying that the arrow hit its target and nothing else.

There was an audible thwack a scream and quiet. Then crying; almost silent, but made obvious by the quiet on the road. _Oh no, _thought Kagome, _I hit her. I hit her, and the demon went away because her soul wasn't good to him anymore; and now she's going to die anyway…_ she might have continued to think that way, had Sango not patted her on the shoulder. "Nice shot." She said, and pointed. Kay sat with her head on her knees, physically unharmed and covered in demon parts. She was crying, but over all, unharmed. Heaving a sigh of relief, she dropped her quiver and ran to the terrified girl.

"Kay?" She said quietly, cautiously touching her shoulder.

Kay yelped, falling over her side and scooted to the side of the road, blabbering, tears still streaming down her face. Kagome stared, and then put both her hands up. "It's ok, Kay, it's alright. The demon is gone; everything is going to be ok!"

Kay made little response, but to wipe her forehead of slime and curl up a little tighter, burying her face in her knees.

Sango knelt beside Kagome and frowned. To Kagome, she said "The demon must have gotten to her more than we thought. She was already frightened, and it exploited that."

"How awful." Kagome said quietly, and tried again to move closer to the girl. She had no luck though, Kay pressed back, moving nearly into the ditch.

"Here, let me try." Miroku said, and moved next to Kagome. The girls eyed him suspiciously, but lost for anything else to do, moved aside. He untied his outer robe slowly, which, of course, made everyone's eyebrows hit their forehead, but stopped there and, surprisingly, began to hum.

It was a simple tune, and it seemed like it was made up as he went along. Sure enough, though, Kay began to stop shaking, and, after five patient minutes, looked up to find Miroku offering his robe to her. He stopped humming and smiled, gesturing her to take it.

Trembling slightly, the girl did so, and began to wipe her face. She accepted Kagome's offered water bottle and took a few sips, then hesitantly smiled. Miroku nodded and stood, holding out a hand to Kay, who took it and was drawn up to a standing position; extremely close to the monk.

"I don't suppose you'd understand if I asked you to bear my children, would you?" He asked, as the hand that had not helped her up took a trip south.

Kay obviously did not understand what he had said, but she did understand the hand. All three watched her face go from thankful to questioning, and finally to a frown. Readying themselves for a scream, or a slap, they shrunk back; only to be very surprised when it was Miroku who yelped. At first, it was not obvious as to why, but when Kay handed Kagome an empty water bottle, and a miffed Miroku began to wring out his robes, they understood.

"Interesting;" said Sango as Kagome and Inuyasha began to laugh, "I'll have to try that; it seems very effective."

_sigh Ok, so the summary sucked the first time around. Hopefully the new one will draw ya'll in._


	3. The Well

_Ok, so I hate disclaimers, because what's the point of a fanfiction site that specifically says fanfiction if it's ours? Oh very well, I suppose promising that I'm not making money is a good reason. And I'm not making money. _

_Anyway. I really hope **someone** deems the third try on the summary good enough to read. Honestly, if it's really that bad of a mary-sue, I'd rather you all flamed me! ::pout:: Anyway, here's some more._

With no more mishap then a short trading of general insults between Inuyasha and Miroku concerning the monk's bad timing, they eventually reached Kaede's village. As always, it was bustling with people, working, caring for houses, children playing. Kagome sighed in relief; this was their base of operations, and she was inclined to call it her home in the feudal era. A few people waved to her, which she cheerfully returned, until Kaede came out of the hut.

"Kagome, child. Why have ye come back?" The old woman caught sight of Kay; a disheveled, dirty, red-blotched mess who obviously had no place being there. "Ah. I see." She muttered and went to the girl. Kay looked up at Kagome and pointed to the woman questioningly.

Kagome smiled to show that she was a friend and said "Kaede."

"Yes?"

"No, she wanted to know your name."

Kaede frowned and peered at Kay. "Is she a mute? She is obviously from your world, Kagome, with that strange dress and appearance."

Kagome sighed, forced again to explain. "She's from another country in my world, and doesn't know our language at all. I don't know hers either."

Kaede continued to eye the girl, who shifted uncomfortably under the steady gaze. "Where did ye find her? When? How did she get here?"

Inuyasha growled. "Up in the plains, yesterday, and how the hell should we know?" He said impatiently. Kaede glanced at him levelly.

"That is very interesting. What had happened before ye found her? Were ye in battle?"

They all looked at each other and shrugged.

"Miroku had just closed his wind tunnel…" Shippo volunteered, "And then we found her just lying on the ground."

Kaede observed coolly as Kay cast Shippo a wary glance and shifted over, then turning her attention back to Kaede. The woman could tell that she was not happy to be the center of attention, and appreciated her quietness. "I suppose ye thought to try the well, Kagome."

"I did. I thought that I could find out if she just needs to get back to wherever she came from, then maybe I could give her a…" she paused, not wanting to explain the concept of planes, "ticket home."

Kaede slowly let out a breath. "That provides that her world and yours are the same. It is possible that they are not."

Kagome nodded. "I know. But I'm fairly sure that she speaks English, and then we could at least get something so that we could talk to her."

Kaede closed her eyes. "Go on. I would suggest that ye hold her hand as ye go in; the well may be more inclined to take her then."

Kagome made a noise of agreement, and motioned Kay to follow her, which the girl did willingly. They reached the well fairly quickly, Kagome walking fast in her excitement, the rest of the group keeping up easily. When they reached it, Kagome stopped and frowned.

"What is it, Kagome?" Sango asked, "Something wrong with it?"

"No," she said, "but I'm just wondering how I'm supposed to explain what's going to happen here. It's kind of…disconcerting to go through."

"Feh." Inuyasha said, sitting in the clearing, "I've been through and it ain't so bad."

"Yeah, well, just think of how she must feel!" Kagome said, then sighed. "I feel really bad for her." She shook her head before anyone could answer and tapped Kay on the shoulder. Pointing to the well, she made a jumping motion with two fingers, and then pointed to herself and Kay. For a moment, Kay frowned, but then shrugged and nodded.

"Ok. I think she's got it." Kagome said, then turned and addressed Inuyasha. "I'll probably be back in two days. Less if I can find her a way home."

"Good luck." Said Sango and Miroku at the same time. Inuyasha just glowered.

"Well go on then." He said when he sensed her looking at him. "The sooner you go, the sooner you're back, and the sooner she's gone."

Kagome sighed, shaking her head, then sat on the well's side, gesturing for Kay to do the same. When the girl was settled, Kagome held up three fingers. "Three, two..." She grabbed Kay's hand and yelled "One!" Jumping off at the same time and pulling the girl with her. Screwing her eyes shut, she willed the well to let them both through, and was relieved to feel the slight shift in realities that came when she changed worlds. She was even more relieved when she felt Kay's hand gripping hers in a white knuckle fashion, even if it did hurt.

She sighed; they were here, and Kay was here. Maybe this would work out ok. Shifting to look at the girl, she found her teary eyed and shaking. Poor thing; she thought, that demon must have really scared her; she didn't cry at all up until it got to her. Smiling, she gently loosed the death grip on her arm. "It's ok, we're home now," she said as she tugged on the rope and motioned the girl to go up. It took two tries, but Kay eventually bumbled her way up, Kagome heard her land heavily on the ground. With the ease of practice, she was standing beside the girl in a moment. "Come on," she said, opening the door to the outside world, "Lets figure out who you are."

Getting into the house was not easy. Grandfather took an exception to Kay and tried to exorcise the demon from her multiple times. Mrs. Higurashi asked more questions than Kagome could answer, and got no answers, mostly because Kagome did know them. Souta was the only one who was tolerable, taking the girl off Kagome's hands and showing her around the house while his sister cleaned up and gathered her thoughts. This was complicated; but she eventually put together a list:

Find out if Kay was in a different place in the same world

Get a ticket home for her.

If that didn't work, Kagome worked up a second list.

Find a translator that Kagome could trust

Work out a way for Kay to talk to them when in the Feudal ages

Find her some more cloths

Pleased, Kagome sat back from her desk, brushing a strand of freshly washed hair from her eyes. Kay had the bathroom right now, though she wasn't sure whether Souta had given her anything but a towel to wear after a shower. Her question was answered in a moment, when Kay walked in the door, wearing Grandfather's temple cloths. Souta appeared behind her, looking happy. "I thought they might fit; he's the only one with enough room in his cloths for her to fit, though they're a bit short."

Kagome nodded, smiling. Kay looked like she belonged in the feudal ages; the black pants and white shirt of a temple guardian fitting her decently. Souta was right though, the pants rose above her ankles, but that wouldn't matter. At least Kagome had one less thing to worry about; grandfather wouldn't miss the cloths.

Frowning, Kagome motioned for Kay to sit on her bed as she remembered the other two problems.

"What's up sis?"

"I need a way to know what she's saying without anyone else knowing. She's had a lot of surprises, and it'd be awful if she started blabbering about the feudal ages to somebody."

Souta shrugged. "What about the computer? They've got a bunch of translators on the internet you know."

Kagome gasped. "I completely forgot! I've been in the warring states era so long that I forgot about the computer!" She banged her head on the table, blessed her brother a hundred times for such a simple answer and dragged Kay to the computer. Her excitement fell when she lay eyes on the keyboard and realized that they were Japanese characters, but Souta had already slid into the seat. Kay, her eyes alight, leaned on the chair behind him. Within five minutes, Souta had brought up a site where Kay could click on English letters with the mouse and it would translate. He got up and waved Kay to sit down. Looking as if she were about to burst, Kay did so and clicked up a storm; then pressed enter.

Kagome held her breath as the computer went through a series of clicks and whirs. The screen changed, and there were her first words.

_Hi. What the hell is going on?_

Kagome squeaked in excitement and grabbed Souta, hugging him. "You are a genius!" She cried, and then let him go, "Even if it does look like your turning into a geek."

"Hey! It's not my fault you've been stuck back in time for so long you forgot how to use a computer!" Souta protested, and then pointed, "I think she wants you to answer."

Kagome nodded and took the keyboard, typing in a message, fingers remembering how to use the keyboard quickly.

_Hello. I don't know what's going on, but you appeared in the Feudal ages of Japan, when demons and magic were common, and, well, I broke the Jewel of the Four Souls, which gives powers to demons, so I'm collecting them with the people you met. I've been doing it for about a year now, and it still isn't done. Now we need to see if you need a plane ticket home, or if this is actually a different world from the one you come from. If you just need a ticket, I can pay if you don't have a way, otherwise we'll go back to the warring ages and figure something out there._

Kay appeared to read the paragraph twice before she answered.

_I'm fairly sure that this is not the same world. But I know how to check. I need to get to my college's website, it's in America._

So she is American, thought Kagome, I hope she isn't as bad as the girls make them out to be. As Souta helped her find her way to the site, she realized the other nugget of information that she had been given. The girl was in college! That was at least three years older than her, possibly more! Kagome suddenly felt rather awkward. She shifted for another few minutes until Kay shook her head, looking on the brink of tears again. Kagome sighed. Well, that idea was null and void. Trying to be cheerful for the girl, she clicked back to the translator and wrote:

_It's ok, we'll figure it out! Right now, lets go get dinner and sleep for awhile, you've had a busy day._

Kay smiled miserably and wiped her eyes, then got up and nodded. Kagome led her to the kitchen.

"All right." Said Kagome's mother, "Who is she?"

Kagome sighed. "Her name is Kay; I didn't think to ask for the rest. She's supposed to be a college student in America, but something happened and she got dropped in the feudal era." She took a bite, observing as Kay fought with the chopsticks, making a mess. Souta was trying to teach her to use them, but it appeared that the girl had next to zero previous knowledge of them. And here I thought that Chinese food was practically American these days, Kagome thought ruefully, then turned her attention back to her mother. "But this isn't her world either, so we've got to go back there and figure out how to get her back."

"She doesn't look too happy to be here." Her mother said as Kay gave up and just drank her tea. "How will you be able to talk in the warring states era? You can't take the computer."

Kagome laughed at the reaction that would garner from the group. "No, I was going to tell her about the warring states and how it's a secret, then to one of my friends who's like, an American whiz. Then we can actually know each other." She sighed, "Then I guess I'll find a book or something."

"I suppose that could work, but what if she says something anyway?" Mrs. Higurashi said; a trace of doubt in her voice. "It's not exactly a secret you can take a chance with, and I don't think she'd appreciate being laughed at on top of everything else."

Kagome blinked, not having thought of that. Then she grinned. "Thanks mom, I guess I didn't think about that. I'll just get some books I guess."

Kagome's mother smiled kindly and took Kay's tray from in front of her. "Take her to bed dear, she's falling asleep at the table."

Kagome glanced over, surprised, to find Kay's eyes drooping over her cup of still steaming tea. Sighing again, she got up to find the girl a place to sleep.


End file.
